Particle balance in diverted plasmas in TEXT-U

Tokamak plasmas in an open divertor configuration with the X-point at the inner equator were compared with plasmas limited by an inner toroidal belt. This paper describes and compares the particle balance in these two types of discharge. The plasma parameters n e (r), Φ(r), T e (r), n ̃ e , and Φ ≈ were measured in the scrape-off layer and in the plasma periphery at one poloidal location and mapped onto the rest of the plasma by assuming constancy on flux surfaces. Emission from neutral hydrogen was measured throughout the plasma. The particle source and then the global particle confinement were inferred from these measurements using a 3-D neutral transport simulation. The SOL profiles are significantly steeper in the diverted discharge. Both the source measurements and estimates from the SOL profiles indicate significantly better confinement in the diverted discharge.